Chicken Soup and Knitting

There is nothing like a cold spring day in Chicago to make staying inside preferable to being outside. So this afternoon, upon returning from Church, I started a pot of Chicken Soup. In cold weather months, I make chicken soup a couple of weekends each month. I don't have any recipe for the soup, I just make it.

The "recipe" was inspired by my best childhood friend's mom's soup. Mary made soup every Sunday for her family and as Roseanne's best friend, I occasionally benefited. Some of my best memories are of the smell of Mary's cooking. While her soup was pretty much the same every weekend, I have tended to mix it up a little. I use what I have on hand.

Starting with a large pot of water 6 - 8 quarts and one large 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes. I cut up any number of the following vegetables:

onion
celery
potato
carrot
green or red bell pepper
cabbage
garlic
parsnips

The amount really depends on what I have and how big a pot I have clean.  I then add a handful of salt (a couple of tablespoons), some black pepper, flaked dried basil, flaked dried thyme, flaked dried oregano, rosemary, and 2 bay leaf.

I add chicken -- bone in and skin on. Remember it is the bone and chicken fat that makes the soup really good. I have used just dark meat, just while meat or a mix with good results. Bring to boiling and then simmer over low heat until meat falls off bones and the stock is reduced to about 1/2 to 2/3 of the original amount.

Mmmmmmmmmm!

After the soup got on the stove, I spent the afternoon starting a knitting project. OK, I know that I have unfinished projects that I should work on, but the lure of this one was just too good to pass up. It is a free pattern that I got at Ravelry designed by Cindy Craft. It is a Fair Isle pattern called Running Horse Hat. If you don't have an log on to Ravelry, it is well worth the effort to sign up.

After 7 rows.

Not much of a start but I will post more pictures when I have them.